open-water swim

5 Lessons from Open Water Swimming

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Last Saturday I continued my open water swim training in preparation for both Take the Rock and Ironman 70.3 Santa Cruz. The fog burned off and revealed stunning views of the Golden Gate, Alcatraz, and Marin County.

A screenshot of my open water swimming route from Aquatic Park to Fort Mason and back,
My group swam out to Fort Mason and back, creeping underneath the piers of the defunct Army base for a total of 2.2 miles. This was my third swim sans wetsuit, but because previous swims left me a bit hypothermic I was wearing a brand new neoprene swim cap. It was much warmer, but I discovered that while my mind was up to the task, my body was not.

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SuperSEAL Triathlon Review

/ mike / 1 Comment

San Diego is a special place for me. My first memory is playing on the beach with kelp  near the Del Coronado hotel. I transformed from a doughy boy into a Marine at the recruit depot in the fall of 2001. Now with family living down here I have enjoyed the occasional visit paired with a quick tri in the morning.  SuperSEAL was a great chance to see how my training was coming along for Ironman California 70.3 next month.

 

The SuperSEAL Course

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SuperSEAL was a bit longer than the last Olympic distance triathlon I raced. The 1 mile swim was much closer to the Half-Iron distance and the 40k bike a decent length to see how my indoor trainer sessions (thanks to El Niño rains) had prepared me. The 10k run was standard length with the first leg on a dirt trail. Racing in San Diego usually affords great scenery, but Coronado’s Silver Strand tops them all.

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